Reading Differently, Rereading for Difference in Versions of

Transcription

Volume 1, Issue 1, 2007
Reading Differently, Rereading for Difference in Versions of Rimbaud’s “Mouvement”
Brian G. Kennelly
Associate Professor & Chair
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
California Polytechnic State University
[email protected]
Abstract
How to engage students to reread Arthur Rimbaud’s 1886 poem “Mouvement” differently? What can they
learn about the poem and in the process about themselves as readers of literature through its various
versions and English language translations? Might rereading for difference hold pedagogical promise?
How might a comparative study of the poem’s various versions in French and in English translation favor
active reading and help students embrace the poem as differently meaningful because of its modernity?
[...] si Rimbaud est illisible, il doit être a fortiori intraduisible.
-- Murphy 19
To translate Arthur Rimbaud’s poetry is difficult. Similarly daunting is engaging students in meaningful
discussion over the more obscure works of the poète maudit. Given Rimbaud’s “dérèglement de tous les
sens,” his taste for neologisms, juxtaposition of scientific with natural terms, and shattering of traditional
versification (Whidden xv), students find his works challenging. As a result, they often reject Rimbaud’s
poetry outright as unreadable (Claisse 118). Rimbaud’s “modern” texts seem a slap in the face,
compared to the traditional or classical poetry with which they are typically most familiar or more
comfortable. How to read his hermetic poems (Sacchi viii)? What to make of their “teasing,” “unfinished”
quality (Staples 50)? Are they meaningless, “textes qui ne parlent de rien, dont on ignorera le sens”
(Todorov, “Complication” 252)?
Student bewilderment should not discourage instructors, however. Myriad possible pedagogical
strategies, which bypass the “errors” of critical method (Adam 1015) further complicating exegesis, can be
employed. Jacques Plessen studies a poem’s structure, grammar, and semantics with his classes; he
breaks away from the outdated teacher-centered French classroom, its “discours suranné sur la littérature
et la poésie,” “domination du maître parlant sur un ton oraculaire à partir de certaines subjectives non
communiquables et a fortiori non critiquables” (“Stratégies” 183-4). Mechthild Cranston finds musical
windows through which to help her students access Rimbaud; she juxtaposes his works with those of
popular artists such as the Doors and Jim Morrison, for example (“Rhyme” 956). Alternatively, teachers
might draw on skills their students already possess to guide and encourage them. Gayle Lévy
emphasizes the visual, the importance of seeing words on a page. First-hand experience of the
“cooperative act” between poet and reader renders students “co-creators” in the poetic act (“Reading” 38,
44). Alternatively, time spent studying Rimbaud can sensitize students to reading differently, for his
works foster mental agility. Thus to read his works is to “acquérir [...] cette mobilité qu’exigent [ses] textes
[...] qui sont en même temps conditions du plaisir au texte [...] vivre, dans la lecture du texte lui-même, la
dynamique créatrice qui y est inscrite” (Plessen, “Stratégies” 172-3, 180).
The numerous editions and “crowded” field of translations of Rimbaud’s works (Whidden) also have
instructional currency. Discussing how he had students compare the various texts of Rimbaud’s Les
Illuminations in his original French to their Dutch translations by Hans van Pinxteren, Plessen observes:
là nous avons senti très vite qu’une telle lecture nous renseigne plus concrètement que ne
peuvent le faire des analyses structurales ou sémiotiques sur le fonctionnement réel du texte.
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Car à chaque instant le traducteur est obligé de choisir explicitement le sens à donner à tel mot
ou à telle expression (“Une traduction impossible?” 143).
Just as revealing, though, are the various versions of the same original. For different translations can find
different solutions to the same problems. Roger Little’s students, for instance, witnessed the problems
and processes of these solutions, gained additional insight into the nature of the original, and as a result,
a greater aesthetic awareness of the qualities of literature (“Study” 191).
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How to engage students to reread Rimbaud’s 1886 poem “Mouvement” differently? What can they learn
about the poem and in the process about themselves as readers of literature through its various versions
and English language translations? Might rereading for difference hold pedagogical promise? We
propose a series of questions that students might first attempt to answer so as to familiarize themselves
with a working version of this “scientific” poem (Forestier 520), its overall structure and possible concerns.
They can then be prompted to compare versions of “Mouvement”—both in French and in English
translation. This comparative study of the poem will, we suggest, favor active reading. As a
consequence, students will become closer, more informed readers than they might have had they only
been exposed to one published version of the text. As critical rereaders of the poem, they will be better
able to negotiate the interpretive challenges posed by Rimbaud’s text. They will discover that “progress”
is not only problematized within the poem but rehearsed across its “competing” (Mason xxxvii) versions
by editors and translators. In arriving at a palimpsestic appreciation of its multiple, albeit ambiguous
messages, students might ultimately embrace the poem as differently meaningful because of its
modernity.
I. INTERROGATING THE “TEXT”
Before comparing versions of “Mouvement,” students should work through a working version of the poem.
Because this text is, as Patricia Terry notes, under “constant tension” (61), it is particularly well suited to
an interrogative reading. Indeed, some have suggested that it might only be readable through the
questions it raises, “que sur le mode de l’interrogation [...] que comme différence” (Charolles 113-4). The
attention of students can therefore be directed to the questions raised in and by the poem from the start.
What follows is Suzanne Bernard’s 1960 edition, which can be conveniently used as a working version: it
is readily available; other editions build upon it; and its published layout across two pages begs the
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question of how mise en page affects or impacts the way a text might be read.
Mouvement
Le mouvement de lacet sur la berge des chutes du
fleuve,
Le gouffre à l’étambot,
La célérité de la rampe,
L’énorme passade du courant
1
For more on the dating of the poem, see volume 4 of Steve Murphy’s edition of Rimbaud’s Œuvres
complètes (Champion, 2002): 448, 622. Valiquette’s dating of the poem (1872, see Appendix B), for
example, is erroneous.
2
This version can be substituted with any extant published version and the list of proposed questions
tailored appropriately. The versions that are most easily available, which we reproduce in Appendix A,
include: those of the Mercure de France (1938, 1947, and 1949), Bernard Valiquette (1943), Michel
Décaudin (1964), Wallace Fowlie (1966, 2005, and online version), Albert Py (1967), Antoine Adam
(1972), Enid Rhodes Peschel (1973), Nick Osmond (1976), Thierry Méranger (1998), Mark Treharne
(1998), Lionel Ray (2001), Wyatt Mason (2002), Bruno Claisse (2003), Pierre Brunel (2004), Louis
Forestier (2004), and Tim Chilcott (online version).
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Mènent par les lumières inouïes
Et la nouveauté chimique
Les voyageurs entourés des trombes du val
Et du strom.
Ce sont les conquérants du monde
Cherchant la fortune chimique personnelle;
Le sport et le comfort voyagent avec eux;
Ils emmènent l’éducation
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce vaisseau
Repos et vertige
A la lumière diluvienne,
Aux terribles soirs d’étude.
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, le sang, les fleurs,
le feu, les bijoux,
Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au-delà de la
route hydraulique motrice,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études;
Eux chassés dans l’extase harmonique,
Et l’héroïsme de la découverte.
[page break]
Aux accidents atmosphériques les plus surprenants,
Un couple de jeunesse s’isole sur l’arche,
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne? -Et chante et se poste.
Once students have read the poem aloud, they should work sequentially through the following list of
questions. Through “interrogating” the text in such a way, they will familiarize themselves with it. After
reading different versions of the poem thereafter, they should realize that their initial desire for resolution
is inappropriate, out of place, and that to reread “Mouvement” requires them to read differently.
1)
How to describe this poem?
Descriptive? Narrative? Other?
2)
How is the poem set up? Does its structure help you describe it?
3)
(How) does the title anticipate the structure?
Explain the title.
4)
How to justify the division of the poem into stanzas? Into verses?
5)
Is there a rhyme scheme? A meter that is respected?
6)
Would you consider this a poem? Why or why not?
7)
How is punctuation used? Does it help to order the poem in some way?
8)
This poem is published as part of a collection (see table of contents of Bernard edition in
Appendix A). What might the poems preceding and following “Mouvement” reveal about it? Do
the poems seem to be organized as part of a larger whole? Consider, for instance, “Après le
déluge,” “Départ,” and “Marine.” Should we be attentive to this context when reading
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“Mouvement”? Is reading the poem on its own tantamount to reading a chapter of a novel or an
act of a play in isolation?
9)
What do you know about the poet Arthur Rimbaud? About the period in which he lived and
wrote? Might biographical details about Rimbaud or information about the concerns or trends of
the period in which he wrote help one appreciate or better understand his poem?
10)
In the first stanza of the poem what is/are the subject/s of the verb “mener”? What is/are the
object/s of the same verb?
11)
What does the fact that we are only aware of “les voyageurs” near the end of the stanza suggest
about their relative importance and their potential role in the poem?
12)
What to say about the accumulation of hydraulic forces (“le mouvement de lacet sur la
berge
des chutes du fleuve,” “le gouffre à l’étambot,” “la célérité de la rampe,” “l’énorme passade du
courant”) that constitute the first half of the stanza and foreground the travelers “moved” by them?
13)
By the end of the first stanza do we have any indication of the travelers’ identities? Of where they
might be going? Or from whence they might be coming?
14)
How to characterize the adjectives employed in the first stanza? Are they descriptive?
Subjective? Does “énorme” (in “énorme passade”) work the same way, for example, as “inouïes”
(in “lumières inouïes”) or “chimique” (in “nouveauté chimique”)?
15)
From which, or whose, perspective are the lights unheard-of? Are they new or novel in the same
way that the chemicals are in the phrase suggesting chemical novelty?
16)
How does the second stanza build upon the first? Is its structure the same or different? And
this structure meaningful?
17)
What more do we learn in the second stanza about the travelers of the first stanza?
Are they painted in a positive or negative light? And what might the way they are portrayed tell us
about the perspective of the poetic voice in the poem? Is it objective? Subjective?
18)
What is the travelers’ means of transport? What is/are their purpose/s for traveling?
19)
In what sense is the juxtaposition of “repos” with “vertige” contradictory? Out of place? What to
make of the fact that there is no verb? Is this a state? A fragment?
20)
Do the adjectives in the second stanza shed light on the possible sense of the poem or
perspective/s in it? In what sense, for instance, can evenings of study be considered “terribles”?
In a positive or negative sense?
21)
Does the use of semi-colons and commas in the second stanza make it more or less readable?
Is this punctuation used consistently throughout? And how to justify the use of the comma after
“bêtes” and before the phrase “sur ce vaisseau”?
22)
What more by the end of the second stanza have we learned about the “mouvement” ostensibly
at the heart of, or driving, the poem? Is it the motion of travelers by a moving vessel on moving
water alone? Or is there also movement at an/other level/s? Horizontal and/or vertical, for
instance?
23)
By beginning with the transition “Car,” the third stanza seems to be set up as an explanation in
much the same way that the second stanza seems to be a close-up view of the anonymous
travelers of the first stanza. Does it function that way, though? In what sense does it (or does it
not) justify what comes before?
is
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24)
What more do we learn in the third stanza about the travelers? About the vessel on which they
are traveling? About their on-board possessions? About the perspective of the poetic voice?
25)
How to reconcile “sang,” “agités,” and “monstrueux”—all seemingly negative—with “extase
harmonique,” “héroisme,” and “découverte”—all seemingly positive?
26)
Does the introduction of a dash in the third stanza shed further light on the perspective of the
poetic voice? How does the phrase set off by the dash function in the context of the stanza? And
of the whole? Is it parenthetical? Revealing? Metatextual? Helpful?
27)
A page break occurs after the line “Et l’héroisme de la découverte.”
following it be considered part of or separate from the third stanza?
28)
Assuming that they can indeed be considered the fourth stanza of the poem, do these final four
lines reveal anything more about those the travelers? About the perspective of the poetic voice?
About the possible biblical undercurrent in the poem?
29)
How to contextualize and interpret the line “Aux accidents atmosphériques les plus surprenants”?
30)
Why might a youthful couple be so isolated?
31)
Might the poem be considered a critique of colonialism? And does Rimbaud shed a positive or
negative light on the scientific and technological progress suggested in it?
Should the four lines
This interrogative scaffolding familiarizes students with the poem while leaving many of its questions still
unresolved. With the stage now set to read the poem differently, students can compare versions of
“Mouvement,” reread it for difference. As a result, they will see first-hand the role others have had in
constructing and reconstructing the text. They will also ultimately understand that the Rimbaldian text,
“lieu de contradictions qui remettent en question fondamentalement le projet du commentaire” (Charolles
111) is designed to resist exegesis.
II. FROM THE INDUCTIVE TO THE COMPARATIVE: TOWARDS THE POETIC PALIMPSEST
French Versions
Students can save time and foster the spirit of collaborative inquiry desired in most student-centered
classrooms by first comparing the various versions of “Mouvement” in small groups then reporting back
their findings and the additional questions raised by rereading the poem comparatively to their class as a
whole. For illustrative purposes, we will juxtapose our working version by Bernard with those editions of
the poem most readily available.
When considered sequentially, the following questions will guide students in their comparative study and
help them recognize the multiple levels of possible meaning in the poem.
1)
How to characterize the differences between the versions of Rimbaud’s poem? Major? Minor?
Meaningful? Other?
2)
Consider these differences in punctuation:
“rampe,” (Bernard) vs. “rampe” (Treharne);
“jeunesse” (Bernard) vs. “jeunesse,” (Fowlie 1966);
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“courant” (Bernard) vs. “courant,” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Harding & Sturrock,
Méranger, Osmond, Sorrell, Treharne);
“appareils,” (Bernard) vs. “appareils, --” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie 2005,
Fowlie online, Harding & Sturrock, Mason, Méranger, Osmond, Sorrell, Treharne);
“sang,” (Bernard) vs. “sang;” (Adam, Brunel, Forestier, Fowlie 2005, Méranger, Osmond);
“bijoux,” (Bernard) vs. “bijoux --” (Adam, Brunel, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie 2005, Fowlie online,
Harding & Sturrock, Osmond), and “bijoux, -- ” (Mason, Sorrell, Treharne);
“harmonique,” (Bernard) vs. “harmonique” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie
2005, Fowlie online, Harding & Sturrock, Méranger, Osmond, Sorrell, Treharne);
“surprenants,” (Bernard) vs. “surprenants” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie
2005, Fowlie online, Harding & Sturrock, Mason, Méranger, Osmond, Sorrell, Treharne);
“pardonne? --” (Bernard) vs. “pardonne?” (Adam, Chilcott, Forestier, Mason, Méranger, Osmond,
Sorrell), and “pardone? --” (Peschel);
“d’études;” (Bernard) vs. “d’études; --” (Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Harding & Sturrock,
Méranger, Sorrell, Treharne);
“vaisseau” (Bernard) vs. “Vaisseau.” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie online,
Harding & Sturrock, Mason, Sorrell, Treharne), “Vaisseau” (Fowlie 2005, Osmond), and
“vaisseau.” (Valiquette).
Are these differences major? Minor? Meaningful? And are there other punctuational differences
that you notice between the various published versions of “Mouvement”?
3)
Consider these differences in spelling:
“au-delà” (Bernard) vs. “au delà” (Bernard, Forestier, Fowlie 1966, Fowlie 2005, Fowlie
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Mason, Mathieu, Méranger, Peschel, Sloate, Valiquette);
online,
“comfort” (Bernard) vs. “confort” (Bernard, Fowlie 1966, Fowlie 2005, Fowlie online, Peschel,
Sloate, Valiquette);
“pardonne” (Bernard) vs. “pardone” (Peschel);
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“atmosphériques” (Bernard) vs. “athmosphériques” (Claisse, Méranger ).
“entourés” (Bernard) vs. “entourées” (Chilcott);
“terribles” (Bernard) vs. “tembles” (Chilcott).
Are they major? Minor? Meaningful? Typographical errors? Do you notice any others?
3
According to Antoine Fongaro, “C’est incontestablement « en delà » que donne le manuscrit, où la
distinction entre le u et le n est très nette” (Segments 15).
4
In his edition of Rimbaud’s works, Méranger notes that the latter is the way the word used to be spelled
(171).
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4)
Is the fact that in some versions of the poem the noun “vaisseau” is capitalized somehow
meaningful?
5)
Consider the differences in line breaks between the Bernard version of the poem, which you
studied in detail first (see first series of questions above), and those in other published versions:
“du/fleuve,” (Bernard) vs. “du fleuve,” (Adam, Brunel, Chilcott, Claisse, Forestier, Fowlie 1966,
Fowlie 2005, Fowlie online, Mason, Méranger, Peschel, Py, Sloate, Treharne, Valiquette);
“les fleurs,/le feu, les bijoux,” (Bernard) vs. “les/fleurs, le feu, les bijoux --” (Adam, Forestier), “les
fleurs, le/feu, les bijoux--” (Brunel, Fowlie online, Osmond), “les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,/--”
(Chilcott), “les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux--” (Claisse), “les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,” (Fowlie 1966,
Sloate), “les fleurs, le feu, les/bijoux--” (Fowlie 2005), “les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux, --” (Mason),
“[les fleurs, le feu/les bijoux--” (Méranger), “les/fleurs, le feu, les bijoux, --” (Treharne), “les
fleurs,/[le feu, les bijoux,” (Valiquette);
“de la/route hydraulique motrice,” (Bernard) vs. “de la route hydrau-/lique motrice” (Brunel), “de la
route hydraulique motrice,” (Chilcott, Claisse, Sloate), “de la/route hydraulique motrice”
(Forestier), “de la route hydraulique/motrice” (Fowlie 1966), “de la route hydraulique/motrice,”
(Fowlie 2005), “de la route/hydraulique motrice” (Fowlie online), “de la route hydraulique motrice:”
(Mason), “de la route/hydraulique motrice,” (Osmond, Treharne), “de la route/[hydraulique
motrice” (Valiquette);
Are they major? Minor? Meaningful? Do you notice other such differences between published
versions of the poem? How might type size and restrictions imposed by mise en page influence
the way we ultimately read and/or interpret the poem? Do you believe these line breaks to be
intentional? The result of editorial decisions? How to interpret the final long stanza in Bernard’s
version of the poem? As separated into two parts by a page break? Or actually constituting two
stanzas? And are there other differences in line breaks?
6)
Consider the differences in indentation between various versions of the poem:
“[indent] fleuve,” (Mathieu);
“[indent] du fleuve,” (Sloate);
“[indent] fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -- ” (Adam, Mathieu);
“[large indent] fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -- ” (Forestier);
“[indent] bijoux -- ” (Fowlie 2005);
“[large indent] [les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -- ” (Méranger);
“[indent] feu, les bijoux -- ” (Osmond);
“[indent] le feu, les bijoux,” (Peschel, Py);
“[indent] les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,” (Sloate);
“[indent] fleurs, le feu, les bijoux, --” (Treharne);
“[large indent] [le feu, les bijoux,” (Valiquette);
“[indent] route hydraulique motrice,” (Adam, Py);
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“[large indent] route hydraulique motrice,” (Forestier);
“[large indent] motrice,” (Fowlie 1966);
“[indent] motrice” (Fowlie 2005);
“[indent] route hydraulique motrice,” (Mathieu, Peschel);
“[large indent] [route hydraulique motrice,” (Méranger);
“[indent] “hydraulique motrice,” (Osmond, Treharne);
“[indent] de la route hydraulique motrice,” (Sloate);
“[large indent] [hydraulique motrice,” (Valiquette);
“Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les fleurs, le
[hanging indent] feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au-delà de la route hydrau[hanging indent] lique motrice,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études; -Eux chassés dans l’extase harmonique
Et l’héroïsme de la découverte.” (Brunel)
“[indent] -- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne? -- (Fowlie 1966);
“[large indent] -- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardone? --” (Peschel);
“[indent] d’études” (Sloate).
In Valiquette’s version, partial brackets, indicating that the indentation is due to space restrictions,
are used. Yet in other versions, no such partial brackets are used. Do you believe that the
indentations are therefore meaningful?
7)
Do you notice any other differences of note between the various published versions of the poem?
Are all of Fowlie’s versions the same, for instance? What might such differences tell us about the
authority or authenticity of a text published in print versus that of a text published online? About
the role a publisher or editor might play in framing the way a text is read, perceived, interpreted?
At this stage of the comparative exercise, students will have still more questions about the poem than
they did after reading and discussing its working version. Through rereading the poem for difference
though, they will also usefully be questioning the status of what they are reading. What is the relationship
between the text/s they are reading and the poem as penned by Rimbaud? Does each published version
of the poem merely duplicate it or does it build upon, somehow modify it? Represent critical progress?
And are Rimbaud’s own editorial decisions respected by his editors and translators?
English Versions
As Daniel Slote observes, the translations of Rimbaud’s poetry are “un moyen privilégié d’être sensible à
[sa] praxis verbale” (“Comment” 129). But how to translate this particular poem which for Michel
Charolles derives its meaning only through its contradictions, “ne signifie rien que ces contradictions et la
dynamique qu’elles entraînent”? One way to think about the poem is as an untranslatable text, “car il
porte en lui-même interrogation sur son sens et sur les codes par lesquels il signifie” (111). So if
translators have been “tempted” by its “mysterious beauty,” its “formidable energy,” if they have been
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influenced by the “directness” with which it assaults readers and compels them to Rimbaud’s “sway”
(Peyre v) have they ultimately also failed to translate it?
Students will be forced to pay close attention to the poem’s internal dynamic by comparing the attempted
“translations” ranging from that of Fowlie, which is purportedly “most faithful” to Rimbaud’s original text
(Whidden xv) and ideal for the student of French “who wishes to read the original but requires a crutch”
(Mason xli), to that of Enid Rhodes Peschel, which is supposedly distinguised by its “scrupulous fidelity,”
its capacity to lure the reader back to “a more intense enjoyment of the original” (Peyre vi). Does this
dynamic “déporte de l’intérieur un système,” as Charolles suggests (113)? And is the movement the
poem seems to rehearse progressive or self-cancelling?
When comparing the English versions of “Mouvement,” students might work first in groups and then
report their findings back to their class. The following suggested list of questions to be considered
sequentially does not address issues of punctuation, capitalization, or mise en page, as these should
already have been considered in the comparative analysis of the poem’s published French versions.
1)
Fowlie and Carlile choose to translate the title of the poem as “Motion,” whereas, Bernard,
Chilcot, Harding & Sturrock, Leclercq, Mason, Mathieu, Peschel, Rootham, Schmidt, Sloate,
Sorrell, and Treharne translate it as “Movement.” Based on your familiarity with the poem, which
title seem more appropriate?
2)
To what degree do the translators of the poem embellish it? Consider the following word choices,
for example:
berge: “bank” (Chilcott, Fowlie, Harding & Sturrock, Leclercq, Mathieu Sloate, Treharne) vs.
“embankment” (Bernard), “chute” (Carlile), “banks” (Mason), “steep banks” (Peschel), “curve”
(Rootham), “rapids” (Schmidt), and “tumbling riverside” (Sorrell);
énorme passade: “huge passing” (Fowlie 1966, Fowlie 2005, Fowlie online, Mathieu) vs. “vast to
and fro” (Bernard), “enormous thrust” (Carlile), “massive to-and-fro” (Chilcott), “beaten track”
(Harding & Sturrock), “enormous leap-frogging” (Leclercq), “pull” (Mason), “enormous passing”
(Peschel), “ceaselessly moving mass” (Rootham), “overwhelming passage” (Schmidt), “mighty
passage”’ (Sloate), and “vast to-and-fro” (Sorrell, Treharne);
inouïes: “unheard-of” (Bernard, Carlile, Mathieu, Peschel,) vs. “extraordinary” (Chilcott, Schmidt,
Treharne), “unimaginable” (Fowlie, Mason), “strange” (Harding & Sturrock), “incredible” (Leclercq,
Rootham); “unheard of” (Sloate), “outlandish”(Sorrell);
nouveauté chimique: “chemical newness” (Fowlie, Mathieu) vs. “chemical change” (Bernard),
“chemical innovation” (Carlile, Peschel), “new chemical wonders” (Chilcott), “chemical surprise”
(Harding & Sturrock), “chemical novelties” (Leclercq), “new elements” (Mason), “chemical
discovery” (Rootham), “chemical wonders” (Schmidt), “innovations in chemistry” (Sloate), and
“chemical invention” (Sorrell);
comptes agités: “agitated accounts” (Fowlie 1966, Fowlie 2005, Fowlie online, Peschel) vs.
“anxious calculations” (Bernard), “shaky reckonings” (Carlile), “fevered calculations” (Chilcott),
“nervous calculations” (Harding & Sturrock), “accounts bandied” (Leclercq), “uneasy accountings”
(Mason), “agitated counting” (Mathieu), “busy calculations” (Schmidt), “restless calculations”
(Sloate), “agitated reckonings” (Sorrell, Rootham), and “agitated calculations” (Treharne);
accidents atmosphériques:
“atmospheric accidents” (Chilcott, Leclercq, Mason, Peschel,
Schmidt, Sloate) vs. “meteorological events” (Bernard), “atmospheric incidents” (Carlile),
“atmospheric happenings” (Fowlie), “wild phenomena in the sky” (Harding & Sturrock), “incidental
transactions” (Mathieu), “atmospheric activity” (Sorrell), and “atmospheric events” (Treharne);
10
ancienne sauvagerie: “an ancient coyness” (Fowlie) vs. “primitive shyness” (Bernard), “primitive
savagery” (Carlile), “age-old savagery” (Chilcott), “earlier crimes” (Harding & Sturrock), “ancient
savagery” (Leclercq, Mathieu, Rootham), “ancient savageries” (Mason), “primitive savagery”
(Peschel), “past savagery” (Schmidt, Sorrell, Treharne), and “bygone madness” (Sloate);
arche: “ark” (Bernard, Chilcott, Harding & Sturrock, Mason, Peschel, Schmidt, Sloate Sorrell,
Treharne) vs. “archway” (Fowlie), “pump box” (Leclercq), and “arch” (Rootham);
se poste: “stands guard” (Fowlie) vs. “mounts guard” (Bernard), “assume position” (Carlile), “take
up watch” (Chilcott), “take the watch” (Harding & Sturrock), “take their stand” (Leclercq), “standing
watch” (Mason), “stands pat” (Mathieu), “takes its post” (Peschel), “stationed there” (Rootham),
“upon their watch” (Schmidt), “take up their posts” (Sloate), “take up their stations” (Sorrell), and
“take up their watch” (Treharne).
Why do you think certain words or phrases give rise to a greater number of different translations
than others? Is the status of those sections of the poem giving rise to a larger number of
translations different from those translated consistently?
3)
In which translation does it seem that the translator most implicates the reader? In which version
does the reader seem most distant from the scene being portrayed or problematized? Consider
the following:
Ils: “These” (Bernard, Carlile, Chilcott, Harding & Sturrock, Leclercq, Mason, Mathieu, Peschel,
Rootham, Schmidt, Sorrell, Treharne) vs. “They” (Fowlie);
On voit: “You can see” (Fowlie, Mathieu, Treharne) vs. “One sees” (Carlile, Peschel, Rootham),
“You can make them out” (Harding & Sturrock), “You see” (Leclercq), “We see” (Mason), “visible”
(Schmidt), and “Can be seen” (Sloate, Sorrell).
4)
Bernard, Leclercq, Mason, Mathieu, and Sloate choose not to translate the noun “strom,”
although Leclercq and Mason italicize it, and Mathieu spells it with a “ø.” Others do translate it:
“Maelstrom’s valley” (Carlile);
“whirlpool” (Chilcott, Schmidt);
“current” (Fowlie);
“waterspouts and whirlpools” (Harding & Sturrock);
“stream” (Peschel, Rootham); and
“riptide” (Sorrell).
Why do you think Bernard and Mason chose to preserve this, and no other, French words in their
translation of “Mouvement”? And what effect does it have in the English version of the text?
5)
When compared to the others, Mason’s translation differentiates itself in other ways too. Would
you consider it more efficient? Less cumbersome? Is his seemingly pared-down version of the
poem somehow more suggestive of the speed of the movement it rehearses? Would you
consider it more or less upbeat than the other translations? What, for example, to make of his
choice of “They bring knowledge” for “Ils emmènent l’éducation” instead of the following:
“They carry away with them the education” (Bernard);
“They take along the education” (Chilcott);
11
“They take the education” (Fowlie);
“They load this Vessel/With the education” (Harding & Sturrock);
“They take away the education” (Peschel);
“They carry with them on this vessel/The education” (Rootham);
“With them is the education” (Sloate);
“They bear away the education” (Sorrell); and
“They carry off the education” (Treharne)?
Leclercq and Schmidt translate the line in a similarly upbeat way: “They bring with them onto this
ship/The education [....]” and “They bring education”, respectively. Are the rest of their
translations as upbeat, though? And what to make of Carlile’s “They bring off the education?”
6)
Are the syntactic differences for “Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études;”
significant?
“Monstrous, lighting up without end -- their store of studies;” (Bernard);
“Monstrous, lit-up endlessly -- their haul of learning:” (Carlile);
“Monstrous, endlessly alight, -- their stock of studies; --” (Chilcott, Treharne);
“Monstrous, illuminated endlessly, -- their stock of studies (Fowlie);
“And their wad of surveys [...]/[...] Monstrous, and lit without end” (Harding & Sturrock);
“Monstrous, lighting up endlessly, -- you see their/stock of studies;” (Leclercq)
“Their monstrous store of studies, illuminated endlessly -- ” (Mason);
“Monstrous, endlessly illuminated -- their stock of/studies;” (Mathieu);
“Monstrous, lighting up endlessly, -- their stock of studies;” (Peschel);
“Monstrous, endlessly enquiring -- their stock of studies;” (Rootham);
“Is their stock of studies visible/[...] Monstrous, endlessly lighting its way -- ” (Schmidt);
“Monstrous, endlessly brightening -- their stock/of studies;” (Sloate); and
“Monstrous, endlessly illuminated, -- their stock of studies; -- ” (Sorrell)?
7)
Consider the translation of the poem’s final stanza. What do the differences in the way the
youthful couple is portrayed as separate from the other travelers reveal? Is “withdraws into the
archway” (Fowlie) for “s’isole sur l’arche” the same as the following, for example?
“holds aloof on the ark” (Bernard);
“disembark alone” (Carlile);
12
“stand alone upon the ark” (Chilcott);
“isolated on the ark” (Harding and Sturrock);
“finds isolation on the pump box” (Leclercq);
“remains alone on the ark” (Mason);
“isolates itself on the ark” (Peschel);
“isolate themselves” (Rootham);
“stand out alone upon the ark” (Schmidt);
“stands aloof on the ark” (Sloate);
“Standing apart on the ark” (Sorrell); and
“stand alone on the ark” (Treharne)?
8)
And are there other differences between the translations that you believe to be meaningful or
significant?
Through rereading the French and English versions of “Mouvement” for difference, students will be
empowered to read modern poets such as Rimbaud differently. After all, one does not read Rimbaud for
answers but rather for the pleasure to be derived from his texts’ instability, from their transgressiveness,
their “systematized disorganization” (Bonenkamp 759). Like nearly all the poems of Les Illuminations,
“Mouvement” showcases multiple possible meanings or messages. Within this text where all is
movement there is, one soon discovers, no fixed point of reference.
One solution to the practical impossibility of translating the poem satisfactorily might be a series of
translations, as Slote suggests. Each could give rise to different versions. When translated on different
levels, all of them would be read as a poetic palimpsest until the reader got the same “multiple messages”
as in the original “creative process” (“Translating” 96).
But hermetic poems like “Mouvement” were conceived to provoke. Sergio Sacchi raises the question of
whether, once they have provoked the reader, such poems warrant further attention: “pourquoi les lire
encore après le tout premier effort de la provocation?” (“Préface” ix). As students reread “Mouvement” in
its various versions, “interpréter à leur gré dans l’exercise créatif qu’est la lecture” (Plessen, “Strategies”
175), as they move beyond the “passage initiatique” that its unreadability seems to be (Riffaterre 632),
they should most importantly realize the stakes of their engagement: that they are ultimately responsible
for making their learning meaningful. By rereading the palimpsest that the versions of various editors and
translators also ultimately represent, students might begin to access its multiple messages, make their
own interpretive discoveries—heroic or otherwise. As teachers, co-collaborators in the poetic act, we
5
should guide and prompt them in their movement forward.
5
I am grateful to Dr. Marlene Birkman of Webster University for inviting me to teach Rimbaud’s poem
through “interrogation” to the students in her “Poetry on the Planet” seminar.
13
Appendices
A. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF LES ILLUMINATIONS—BERNARD EDITION
Notice
Après le déluge
Enfance
Conte
Parade
Antique
Being beauteous
Vies
Départ
Royauté
A une raison
Matinée d’ivresse
Phrases
Ouvriers
Les Ponts
Ville
Ornières
Villes: Ce sont des villes!
Vagabonds
Villes: L’Acropole officielle
Veillées
Mystique
Aube
Fleurs
Nocturne vulgaire
Marine
Fête d’hiver
Angoisse
Métropolitain
Barbare
Solde
Fairy
Guerre
Jeunesse
Promontoire
Scènes
Soir historique
Bottom
H
Mouvement
Dévotion
Démocratie
Génie
B. FRENCH VERSIONS
Mouvement
Le mouvement de lacet sur la berge des chutes du fleuve,
14
Et du strom.
Cherchant la fortune chimique personnelle ;
Le sport et le comfort voyagent avec eux ;
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce vaisseau :
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les fleurs,
le feu, les bijoux,
On voit, -- roulant comme une digue au delà de la
Eux chassés dans l’extase harmonique
[Mercure de France 1938]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce vaisseau.
Repos et vertige
[le feu, les bijoux,
15
Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard
On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la route
[hydraulique motrice,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études ;
1872
[Valiquette 1943]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les
[fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la
[route hydraulique motrice,
Un couple de jeunesse, s’isole sur l’arche,
TEXTE DE la Vogue, t. I, no 6 (29 mai-3 juin 1886).
Autographe conservé par Gustave Kahn.
14 Aucune ponctuation.
24 Il y a bien une virgule après jeunesse.
16
***
Mouvement
Le mouvement de lacet sur la berge des chutes du
fleuve,
Et du strom.
Le sport et le confort voyagent avec eux ;
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, le sang, les
fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’é
tudes;
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne ? -Et chante et se poste.
TEXTE DE L’EDITION PRÉORIGINALE (la Vogue hebdom., t. I, p. 310-311).
***
Mouvement
17
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
le feu, les bijoux,
[Décaudin 1964]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Le sport et le confort voyagent avec eux;
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, le sang, les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la route hydraulique
motrice,
18
[Fowlie 1966]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
le feu, les bijoux,
[Py 1967]
***
Mouvement
L’énorme passade du courant,
Et du strom.
19
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce Vaisseau.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les
fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
Aux accidents atmosphériques les plus surprenants
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne?
Et chante et se poste.
[Adam 1972]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
le feu, les bijoux,
20
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardone ? -Et chante et se poste.
[Peschel 1973]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce Vaisseau
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les fleurs, le
feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au-delà de la route
hydraulique motrice,
[Osmond 1976]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
21
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang;
[les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
[route hydraulique motrice,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études ; -Eux chassés dans l’extase harmonique
Aux accidents athmosphériques les plus surprenants
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne ?
[Méranger 1998]
***
Mouvement
La célérité de la rampe
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les
fleurs, le feu, les bijoux, -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la route
22
[Treharne 1998]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang: les fleurs,
le feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
Monstrueux, s’éclairant sans fin, -- leur stock d’études ;
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne ?
[Ray 2001]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
23
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux, -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la route hydraulique motrice:
[Mason 2002]
***
Mouvement
Mènent par des lumières inouïes
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au-delà de la route hydraulique motrice,
Aux accidents athmosphériques les plus surprenants
-- Est-ce ancienne sauvagerie qu’on pardonne? –
[Claisse 2003]
24
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les fleurs, le
[Brunel 2004]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
25
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les
fleurs, le feu, les bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
[Forestier 2004]
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Des races, des classes et des bêtes, sur ce Vaisseau
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang; les fleurs, le feu, les
bijoux -Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
-- On voit, roulant comme une digue au delà de la route hydraulique
motrice,
[Fowlie 2005]
26
***
Mouvement
Et du strom.
Repos et vertige
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les fleurs, le
[Fowlie 2005, online version]
***
Mouvement
Les voyageurs entourées des trombes du val
Et du strom.
27
Repos et vertige
Aux tembles soirs d’étude.
Car de la causerie parmi les appareils, -- le sang, les fleurs, le feu, les bijoux,
-Des comptes agités à ce bord fuyard,
[Chilcott, online version]
***
C. ENGLISH VERSIONS
Movement
The curve of rushing waters where the river falls steeply,
The deep eddies by the rudder,
The rush of the descent,
The ceaselessly moving mass of the current
All lead -- by incredible suggestion
And the latest chemical discovery -The travellers, surrounded by the water-spouts of the
valley
And of the stream.
These are the world’s conquerers
Adventuring in quest of personal fortune;
Sport and comfort voyage with them;
They carry with them on this vessel
The education of races, of classes, and of beasts.
There is repose and vertigo
In the deluge of light
During the terrible evenings of study.
And between talks among the apparatus
The blood, the flowers, fire and gems;
Between agitated reckonings on this fugitive shipboard,
One sees -- rolling like a dyke beyond the propelling,
hydraulic track,
Monstrous, endlessly enquiring -- their stock of studies;
Themselves hunted into harmonious ecstacy
And the heroism of discovery.
In most surprising atmospheric effects
A youthful pair isolate themselves on the arch,
-- Is it some ancient savagery one is pardoning? -And stationed there, they sing.
[Rootham 1932]
28
***
Movement
The oscillation of the riverfall on the bank,
The abyss at the stern post,
The celerity of the slope,
The enormous leap-frogging of the current,
By means of incredible lights
And chemical novelties
Lead the travelers who are surrounded by
whirlwinds of the valley
And waterspouts of the strom.
These are the conquerors of the world
Seeking personal chemical fortune;
Sport and comfort travel in their company;
They bring with them onto this ship
The education of races, of classes and of beasts:
Repose and vertigo
With diluvian light,
With terrrible evenings of study.
For, from the chatter amid appartuses, blood,
flowers, fire, jewels,
From the accounts bandied on this fleeting ship,
You see --rolling like a dike beyond the hydraulic
propelling road,
Monstrous, lighting up endlessly -- you see their
stock of studies;
They, hidden in the harmonic ecstasy
From the most startling of atmospheric accidents
A youthful couple finds isolation on the pump box
(Is it ancient savagery that we forgive?)
To sing and take their stand.
[Leclercq 1960]
***
Motion
The swaying motion on the bank of the river falls,
The chasm at the sternpost,
The swiftness of the hand-rail,
The huge passing of the current
Conduct by unimaginable lights
And chemical newness
Voyagers surrounded by the waterspouts of the valley
And the current.
They are the conquerors of the world
Seeking a personal chemical fortune;
Sports and comfort travel with them;
They take the education
Of races, classes, and animals, on this boat
29
Repose and dizziness
To the torrential light
To the terrible nights of study.
For from the talk among the apparatus, blood, flowers, fire, jewels,
From the agitated accounts on this fleeing deck,
-- You can see, rolling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic motor road,
Monstrous, illuminated endlessly -- their stock of studies;
Themselves driven into harmonious ecstasy,
In the most startling atmospheric happenings,
A youthful couple withdraws into the archway,
-- Is it an ancient coyness that can be forgiven? -And sings and stands guard.
[Fowlie 1966]
***
Movement
The swaying movement on the steep banks of the river’s falls,
The whirlpool at the sternpost,
The speed of the slope,
The enormous passing of the current
Conduct through the unheard-of lights
And the chemical innovation
The travelers surrounded by the waterspouts of the valley
And of the stream.
Seeking their personal chemical fortune;
Sport and comfort travel with them;
They take away the education
Of races, of classes and of animals, on this ship
Repose and vertigo
In the diluvial light,
In terrible nights of study.
For from the talk amid the apparatus, the blood, the flowers,
the fire, the jewels,
From the agitated accounts aboard this fugitive ship,
-- One sees, rolling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic power
road,
Monstrous, lighting up endlessly, -- their stock of studies;
The people driven into harmonious ecstasy,
In the most amazing atmospheric accidents,
A youthful couple isolates itself on the ark,
-- Is it primitive savagery that people pardon? -And sings and takes its post.
[Peschel 1973]
***
30
Movement
A winding movement on the slope beside the rapids of the river.
The absyss at the stern,
The swiftness of the incline,
The overwhelming passage of the tide,
With extraordinary lights and chemical wonders
Lead on the travelers
Through the windspouts of the valley
And the whirlpool.
These are the conquerors of the world,
Seeking their personal chemical fortune;
Sport and comfort accompany them;
They bring education for races, for classes, for animals
Within this vessel, rest and vertigo
In diluvian light,
In terrible evenings of study.
For in this conversation in the midst of machines,
Of blood, of flowers, of fire, of jewels,
In busy calculations on this fugitive deck,
Is their stock of studies visible
-- Rolling like a dike beyond
The hydraulic propulsive road,
Monstrous, endlessly lighting its way -Themselves driven into harmonic ecstasy
Amid the most amazing accidents,
Two youths stand out alone upon the ark
-- Can one excuse past savagery? -And sing, upon their watch.
[Schmidt 1976]
***
Movement
The rythmic movement on the river falls’ bank,
And the huge passing of the current
Conduct through unheard-of lights
And a chemical newness
The voyagers surrounded by the waterspouts of the
valley
And the strøm.
Sports and comforts travel along with them;
They bring the eduction [sic]
Of races, classes, and animals, on this boat,
Repose and vertigo
To this diluvian light,
31
To terrible nights of study.
Since from the talk among the apparatus, the blood, the
flowers, the fire, the jewels,
From the agitated counting aboard this fugitive ship,
--You can see, roling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic power road,
Monstrous, endlessly illuminated -- their stock of
studies;
Themselves hunted into harmonic ecstasy,
During the most unbelievable incidental transactions,
A young couple moves apart at a bridge
-- Is it an ancient savagery that has to be forgiven? -And sings and stands pat.
[Mathieu 1979]
***
Movement
The zigzag movement along the bank
of the river’s falls,
The rapidity of the rail,
The mighty passage of the current,
Lead, amid the unheard of lights
And the innovations in chemistry
The travellers, amid the waterspouts of the vale
And the strom.
Each seeking his own chemical fortune;
Sports and comforts are travelling with them;
With them is the education
Of peoples, classes and animals, on the Vessel.
Repose and giddiness
In the torrential light,
In the awesome nights of study.
For, from whispered talks amid the apparatus -blood, and flowers, and fire, and gems -And restless calculations on this runaway ship
-- Can be seen, rolling like a dam above
the hydraulic powered road,
Monstrous, endlessly brightening -- their stock
of studies;
They’ve been driven into harmonic ecstasy
Amidst the most amazing atmospheric accidents
A youthful couple stands aloof on the ark
-- Is bygone madness forgiven? -And sing as they take up their posts.
[Sloate 1990]
32
***
Movement
The rocking movement against the embankment at the river falls,
The swiftness of the slope,
The vast to and fro of the current
Bring through unheard-of lights
And chemical change
The travellers surrounded by the waterspouts of the valley
And of the strom.
Seeking their personal chemical fortunes;
Amusement and comfort travel with them;
They carry away with them the education
Of races, of classes, and of animals, on this vessel
Repose and vertigo
In the diluvian light,
And the terrible nights of study.
For from the talk among the equipment, the blood, the flowers
the fire, the gems,
From the anxious calculations on board this fugitive ship,
--You can see, rolling past like a dyke beyond the hydraulic propulsive road,
Monstrous, lighting up without end -- their store of studies;
Themselves driven into harmonic ecstasy.
And among the most extraordinary meteorological events,
A young couple holds aloof on the ark,
-- Is it a pardonable primitive shyness? -And sings and mounts guard.
[Bernard 1997]
***
Movement
The twisting movement against the bank at the river falls,
The swiftness of the ramp,
The vast to-and-fro of the current,
With extraordinary lights
And chemical wonders
Lead the travellers on through the waterspouts of the valley
And the whirlpool.
Seeking their private chemical fortunes;
They carry off the education
Of races, classes and animals, on this Vessel.
Rest and vertigo
33
During the terrible nights of study.
For from the talk in the midst of machines, -- the blood, the
flowers, the fire, the jewels, -From the agitated calculations on this fugitive deck,
-- You can see, rolling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic
power of the road,
Monstrous, endlessly alight, -- their stock of studies; -Themselves driven into harmonic ecstasy
Amid the most extraordinary atmospheric events
Two young people stand alone on the ark,
-- Past savagery excused? -And sing as they take up their watch.
[Treharne 1998]
***
Motion
The ricochet down the chute of rapids
The whirlpool astern
The rampant swiftness’ glide
The current’s enormous thrust,
Led on by unheard-of lights
And chemical innovation
The voyagers whirl through waterspouts into the
Maelstrom’s valley.
These are the world-conquering
Fortune-hunting chemical personnel:
Sports and comforts come along for the ride.
They bring off the education
Of races, classes and animals on this Vessel:
Repose and vertigo
To the floodlit glow
In terrifying nights of study.
For out of the babble among the systems,
-- The blood, the flowers, the fire, the jewels -Out of the shaky reckonings on this pitching deck
-- One sees, rolling like a levee
Beyond the motorized hydraulic highway,
Monstrous, lit-up endlessly--their haul of learning:
-- They’ve ransacked harmonic ecstasy
And the heroism out of discovery.
Among the most amazing atmospheric incidents
A young couple disembark alone
-- Is this primitive savagery forgivable? -And sing and assume position.
[Carlile 2001]
***
34
Movement
The swaying movement by the tumbling riverside,
The vortex at the sternpost,
The speed of the ramp
The vast to-and-fro of the current,
Among outlandish lights
And chemical invention
Steer the travellers through the valley’s waterspouts
And the riptide.
Seeking their own chemical fortune:
They bear away the education
Of races, classes, beasts, on this Vessel.
Rest and vertigo
On terrible nights of study.
For, from the talk among the machinery, -- the blood,
the flowers, the fire, the jewels, -From the agitated reckonings on these fugitive boards,
-- Can be seen, rolling like a dyke beyond the
roads hydraulic motor power;
Monstous, endlessly illuminated, -- their stock of studies; -Themselves driven into harmonic ecstasy
Amid the most astonishing atsmospheric activity,
Standing apart on the ark, two young people,
-- Past savagery pardoned perhaps? -And sing and take up their stations.
[Sorrell 2001]
***
Movement
The wagging movement along the banks of the river’s falls,
The gulf at stern,
The slope’s speed,
The current’s pull
Flows through unimaginable lights
And new elements
Travelers enveloped in a valley of waterspouts
And strom.
These are the world’s conquerors
Seeking their own elemental fortunes;
They bring knowledge
Of race, classes, animals.
Aboard this Vessel.
35
Rest and restlessness
Under a flood of light
During terrible evenings of study.
Because from the banter around the instruments -- blood, flowers, fire,
Jewels -From the uneasy accountings aboard this fugitive craft,
We see, rolling like seawalls past a motorized hydraulic road:
Their monstrous store of studies, illuminated endlessly -They are driven into harmonic ecstasy,
And heroics of discovery.
Beneath astonishing atmospheric accidents
A young couple remains alone on the ark
-- Can ancient savageries be absolved? -And sings, standing watch.
[Mason 2002]
***
Movement
The swaying motion on the bank beside the falls,
The eddies at the sternpost,
The speed of the ramp,
The beaten track of the current, huge,
Past strange lights
And chemical surprise -Bring the travellers through the vale
Of waterspouts and whirlpools.
These are the conquerors of the world,
Seeking their personal chemical fortunes;
Leisure and comfort travel with them;
They load this Vessel
With the education of races, classes, animals.
Repose and vertigo
In the diluvian light
During terrible evenings of study.
From the banter in the machinery -- the blood and
flowers, the fire and jewels -From the nervous calculations on these fugitive decks,
You can make them out -- driven to harmonic Ecstasy,
the heroism of discovery -And their wad of surveys, rolling like a dyke
Beyond the hydraulic pull of the channel,
Monstrous, and lit without end.
Surrounded by wild phenomena in the sky,
Two young people, isolated on the ark
-- Earlier crimes excused? -Sing as they take the watch.
[Harding & Sturrock 2004]
***
36
Motion
And the current.
Of races, classes, and animals, on this Boat
To the torrential light,
For from the talk among the apparatus, -- blood, flowers, fire,
jewels,
From the agitated accounts on this fleeing deck,
-- You can see, rolling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic motor
road,
Monstrous, illuminated endlessly, -- their stock of studies;
Themselves driven into harmonious ecstasy
In the most startling atmospheric happenings
[Fowlie 2005]
***
Motion
And the current.
Of races, classes, and animals, on this Boat.
To the torrential light,
37
For from the talk among the apparatus, -- blood, flowers, fire,
jewels -From the agitated accounts on this fleeing deck,
-- You can see, rolling like a dyke beyond the hydraulic motor
road,
Monstrous, illuminated endlessly, -- their stock of studies;
Themselves driven into harmonious ecstasy
In the most startling atmospheric happenings
[Fowlie 2005, online version]
***
Movement
The twisting movement at the bank by the river-falls,
The vortex at the stern,
The swiftness of the ramp,
The current’s massive to-and-fro,
Past extraordinary lights
And new chemical wonders
Steer the travellers through the valley’s waterspouts
And the whirlpool.
Seeking their very own chemical fortune;
Sport and comfort travel by their side;
They take along the education
Of races, classes, animals, on this Vessel.
Rest and vertigo
During terrible nights of study.
From the talk among the machines, -- the blood, the flowers, the
fire, the jewels, -From the fevered calculations on this fleeting deck,
You can see, rolling like a dyke beyond the motorised hydraulic
road,
Monstrous, endlessly alight, -- their stock of studies; -And them, driven to harmonic ecstasy
Amid most wondrous atmospheric accidents
A young couple stand alone upon the ark,
-- Is it an age-old savagery that’s forgiven? -And sing and take up watch.
[Chilcott, online version]
***
38
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40
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